Chapter 8 –Echoes from the Past
For the most part, the rest of Sunday had been a long and boring day at the SGC. On the one hand Sam had wished to be alone, and on the other, she was happy Daniel had come in to spend time with her. There wasn't much they could do. Sam wasn't really feeling into anything that might require a physical effort, like basketball. And she was too emotionally tired for anything requiring thought, like work or chess.
So their time together had been pretty quiet. Sam at one point earlier in the afternoon had told Daniel she wouldn't be offended if he had something else to do.
"Nope," he'd answered.
So they sat in her quarters, changing channels on the television. There was nothing worth while watching. The news was depressing. More suicide bomb attacks in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Not only were they fighting alien threats, they were fighting amongst themselves as well. The images began to darken Sam's thoughts.
What right did she have to bring a child into a world such as this? Even if there wasn't the Ori on the way, the world was no longer a friendly place. If it ever had been. People killing people over what Sam knew to be inconsequential differences in beliefs and values. If only everyone could stop and see the whole picture. If they could all band together against the oncoming and seemingly unavoidable invasion force. She knew it was unrealistic, but her mood was melancholy to say the least.
Who was it who said that alone a man was reasonable, en mass they were….she couldn't even remember how that went. A week ago she would've been able to quote that. Well the gist was that on a one on one basis most people could handle it as intelligent beings, as a group there would be mass panic. People, generally as a group, were nuts.
She smiled inwardly, knowing Jack would've thought her jumbled thoughts humorous. Maybe he was wearing off on her. Or maybe there was something to this urban legend of 'pregnancy brain.' Bright women suddenly becoming walking imbeciles while pregnant. Not that she thought Jack was an imbecile. Far from it. He just hid it well. Having a brain that was. She laughed out loud at herself, her muddled thoughts so strange to her. This naturally earned her a worried look from Daniel. The television was showing footage of the latest bombing.
"Are you okay?" he asked cautiously.
"Sure. No, not really. What am I doing Daniel, even thinking about being a mother?"
Now she was almost on the verge of tears. Her emotions were just all over the place.
"Sam," Daniel soothed, moving from his chair to sit with her on the bed. He put his arm around her.
"I mean, look at the state the world is in," she continued, waving her hand at the images on the television. "And then there's Jack. What if he doesn't want a baby? After everything he went through with Charlie. How could I even think of putting him through…"
"Stop," Daniel's voice was firm. "I'm not an expert on parenthood. But I do know Jack."
He smirked as soon as that left his mouth. Well, he did.
"Jack loves kids. You know that, I know that, hell anyone who knows him knows that. No matter how intimidating he can be to some, no matter how he hides his thoughts and feelings, he can't hide that. He only has to look at a kid and he melts." Daniel let that sink in for a moment.
"Let's talk about Charlie," Daniel continued. "Even on a mission, Jack risked everything. For a baby. He would've stayed in that mansion knowing it was going to blow if he couldn't get that baby out. You really think he wouldn't want this with you? You Sam! Do you have any idea how much he loves you?"
"I know," Sam spoke in a hushed whisper, looking down at her trembling hands.
"Do you?" Daniel wasn't letting up. "He'd die a thousand times over for you. Teal'c and I both saw what the two of you felt and had to deny yourselves for years. We weren't blind. And every time we thought we almost lost you he went nuts. And every time you thought we almost lost him, well same reaction. It was more than just a team thing, more than just friendship Sam. Did he fight letting me go when I ascended. No. He made the hard decision and let me go. But when it was you. After that thing took you over? And he had to shoot you twice with a Zat. You should've seen him Sam. I thought he died inside that day; the look in his eyes like no one was home. I'd seen it once before. The very first time I met him. After Charlie. When he thought he wanted to die on the suicide mission to Abydos."
Daniel stopped to let it sink in, then went on, "Janet was going to pull the plug Sam. You were brain dead, or so we thought. And he still wouldn't let you go. You honestly think he wouldn't want to have a child with you? It'd be the one way he could be sure you'd never be able to get rid of his stubborn, rude dumb ass."
Sam looked up suddenly on Daniel's last point, ready to defend Jack, and saw his huge devilish grin. They both began to laugh. It felt good. So good, just to be able to laugh.
"But what if the Ori.." Sam became serious again.
"Look, we don't know that. My point is you shouldn't dwell on the negative until you have to. Oh no, that just sounded way too much like Jack," Daniel smirked again.
"I wish I could do that Daniel, but I was on…I took preventative measures," Sam just couldn't break free from the thought that the Ori were somehow involved.
"No method is a hundred percent effective, you're a scientist. You should know that. And all that pent up energy you two rabbits have had to endure…" Daniel teasing was cut off as Sam punched him playfully.
"Come on," Daniel stood up and held out his hand to her. "Let's go grab something to eat."
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It was still early so the Commissary was relatively empty. Sam grabbed a tray and opted for a blue Jell-O and milk then began to head away. She was stopped by Daniel's hand on her arm. He reached into the covered food section and retrieved a salad and plopped it unceremoniously on her tray, throwing a dirty glare in her direction to top it off.
Moving her along, he then had the server dole out two plates of today's special. Chicken something with mash and gravy, with mixed veg. Okay, so not the greatest food. But she had to start eating right.
"I'm not that hung.." Sam started to protest.
"Uh, uh, uh, gotta start thinking about more than just you now," Daniel was serious but balanced it with a wink.
"Great! I'm going to get fat," Sam groaned and actually stomped off toward a table.
Daniel just snickered. A few extra pounds on her frame wouldn't kill her, pregnant or not. And if Jack really couldn't make it for legit reasons, he'd appreciate someone looking out for her. So that fell on Daniel. Their best friend. A role he took very seriously given all that Jack, and Sam, had done for him over the years. Closer friends just could not be found.
Daniel remembered Sha're. How he'd felt seeing her pregnant, and it hadn't even been his. The longing he'd felt. The wistfulness. And his pain and heartache. It could've been them. It should've been them. Theirs. But Apophis had stolen that from them. Stolen her from him. Sam was right in one regard, what had happened to Jack with Charlie had been awful. His friend deserved better. He deserved this. Daniel only hoped Jack realized it.
Taking a seat opposite her the two friends began to eat without conversation. Daniel was trying to come up with some innocuous topic that would take her mind off her troubles. Maybe he could let her drone on about the technical makeup of Merlin's thing. He looked up at her and saw her hand, holding a forkful of mash, frozen half way up to her mouth. She was watching someone.
Daniel turned slightly in his chair to look back and saw Dr. Lam approaching. He could tell by her facial expression that something was wrong. Very wrong. She almost looked…agitated.
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So far Major Anderson had only managed to get 10 yards in. The going was slow. The ground was more solidly packed then Jack had initially anticipated, not to mention they had to be careful the digger didn't cause a cave in on himself. Jack wasn't looking forward to his turn. Peering in as Anderson began to crawl back out, Jack couldn't help but remember the hole he'd spent days in.
An hour and a half into this, Jack prepared to take his turn digging. As Anderson stood up he shook the dirt from himself and watched as the General crouched and peered into the hole.
"Sir, you don't need to…" he whispered, but Jack cut him off with a finger to his lips.
Right, no talking. He had been about to offer to take the General's turn as well. Anderson couldn't even begin to imagine the nightmare of being stuck in that hole in Columbia. Yet, somehow the Major knew, O'Neill wouldn't back down from a challenge.
Taking a deep breath, Jack began to crawl to where the Major had stopped. His breaths were coming quicker and he had to concentrate to steady himself, the feeling of claustrophobia enveloping him. 'Just dig,' he ordered himself. First you loosen the dirt, then you scoop it up with the pail and crawl it back out. Anderson hands you another, crawl in, dig, scoop, crawl. 'Piece of cake,' he tried convincing himself. Before letting the others take a turn, Jack was gonna have to send a couple of 'em out into the night to try and find something to reinforce the hole with.
The last thing he wanted was to have the dig topple in on one of them. He especially didn't want it to be him. He had a kid on the way. Doh! Well, better to think about that then being in this tight spot. Dig, scoop, crawl, hand, crawl, dig, scoop. Wonder if it was a girl or a boy? Didn't matter, as long as it was healthy. Nice if it had blonde hair and brown eyes, or maybe he/she would have brown hair and blue eyes. With Sam as the mom, kid would be gorgeous no matter what.
'Wow. A kid. Imagine, at my age. A second shot.' He'd gotten over the worry that Sam would take some action without consulting him. She just wouldn't do that to him. He was pretty sure. So, when he got back, couldn't even think about it being an 'if' scenario, he'd talk to her. Convince her, if she wasn't already convinced, that this would be great. Terrific. Wonderful. A kid. She'd still have her career and he'd be a house hubby. Excellent! Wouldn't Homer be jealous? Well, probably not. There was that episode where Homer got canned and Marge had to get a job, and well Bart…what the hell was he thinking about? Dig, scoop, crawl.
When Jack had been in for just over an hour they'd made a little more headway. Fifteen yards in now. Digging was becoming a little easier. Time to take a break and get something to reinforce the hole. Jack and the Major headed back to the chamber. Jenson was still on watch, Cooper and Hanson laid out sleeping.
"Rise and shine boys and….boys," Jack was too used to having a woman on his team. The most capable woman. Hot too. And pregers. 'Okay, Jack, movin on', he scolded himself. 'Got a job to do.'
Cooper and Hanson came awake quickly and began to stand.
"Before carrying on," Jack instructed looking at his watch. It was 23:33. "Anderson, you take Hanson. Go find something we can use to reinforce the walls and ceiling of the dig. Don't need any unnecessary accidents. Jenson, you go top side and cover their sixes from inside the house. Cooper, start playing with your doodads so we can do surveillance once we're close to breaking through. Everyone clear?"
"Yes Sir," the four men said in unison.
"What? No one gonna ask what I'm gonna do?" Jack quipped off with a smirk, laying out his sleeping gear. "Ah, the joys of being a General."
This got the group chuckling. Nice that the top guy had a sense of humor, twisted though it seemed to be.
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An hour later Jack woke from his restless nap to see the three men he'd sent out earlier returning. They carried a mish mash bunch of wood, almost falling down the dilapidated stairwell. He got up from his sleeping bag and went to assist. There were some pieces of two by fours, some plywood, small tree branch, and some other odds and ends.
"We can break apart some of the furniture still upstairs too Sir," Anderson advised, seeing the distressed look on the General's face. "There's an old kitchen table and a couple of twin cots."
Jack took in a breath and blew it out slowly shaking his head. It would have to do. Reinforced concrete beams had been too much to expect he supposed with a grimace.
"Go," he told them. The table might actually be of some use. "And bring some chairs if they're there."
"Chair legs would be too small to use as braces Sir," Hanson was confused.
"For sitting on," Jack drawled out slowly in reply. "I'm getting old. Don't want piles any sooner than necessary."
"Yes Sir," Anderson snickered, seeing Hanson's face go red in the dim electric lighting.
The other three on their way back up, Jack turned his attention to Cooper who was fiddling with all kinds of gadgets.
"You got it figured yet, how we're going to manage surveillance?" Jack asked.
"No problems Sir, you see this small device is actually a camera that will feed.." Cooper began excitedly only to be cut off, as was Jack's way when anyone was threatening to drone on about technical stuff.
"Is that a yes?" Jack asked.
"Yes Sir," Cooper answered a little unsure of himself.
"Now ya see," Jack smiled, gesturing with his hands. "That's all I needed."
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It was almost 02:30 when Hanson crawled out of the hole and gave the signal for Jenson to follow him to the chamber.
"Sir, Sir," Hanson whispered while bent over the sleeping General. Nothing. Guy was out sound. Crouching he gave the General a little shake.
Jack grabbed at the unknown hand and gave it a quick twist while reaching up with his other arm for the throat. Hanson let out a muffled yell and O'Neill came fully awake.
"Don't do that will ya," he complained quietly, letting the Captain go. "Whadya trying to do? Give me a heart attack?"
"Sorry Sir," Hanson croaked, rubbing his throat.
Jack shook his head trying to clear the cob webs. He had been in a deep dreamless sleep, his exhaustion of the previous days having finally caught up to him.
"Shift change already," he grimaced.
"No Sir," Jenson was the one that answered; extremely relieved he hadn't been the one disturbing the General's slumber. Hanson was still rubbing his throat.
Jenson continued, "I think we're almost there. I can hear muffled talking, sounds Farsi to me."
"What?" Jack was surprised. "You guys dug 85 yards already?"
Jack looked at his watch, pressing the tab to illuminate the time. It'd only been over an hour since they tried reinforcing their crawl space and the second crew had started to dig. Cooper he had standing watch while he and Anderson slept. Cooper wasn't to take a turn digging. Jack wanted him fresh for when it was gizmo time.
"No Sir," Hanson could speak again. "We're only about 15, maybe 20 yards further in then where you and the Major left off."
"Hmm," Jack murmured thoughtfully then shrugged.
He guessed the fanatics were using the tunnel further from the house then he expected. Made sense really. Might even have off shoots on the other side there too. That'd have to be something to file away under might need to know later.
"Okay, well let's have at it boys. Cooper, you're up, Hanson, stay here, keep watch" Jack instructed, rising to his feet.
He had to stretch and he could feel the stiffness throughout his body. 'And I think I can keep up with a toddler?' he mused wryly to himself. Well, his bed would be softer, so ya, he could do it. He hoped.
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The group watched while Lt. Cooper set upon his tasks. He had begun to explain to the General what he was about to do, but Jack put a finger to his own lips, reminding the Lieutenant that there was to be no talking. Besides that, as long as things worked, the last thing Jack wanted was a technical explanation on, well, on anything.
Cooper took out of his pack a small device that looked like a miniature computer. Though Jack thought it resembled one of those mini DVD players people had in cars for the kids. Not a bad idea. They could keep junior, or juniorette as the case maybe, occupied with Barney in the back seat on the way up to the Cabin.
Then Cooper took out small wired earpieces, plugged them into a gadget, which in turn plugged into the DVD looking thingy. Next he took out a small slim metal rod which he extended to a foot. He fed the thingy he had earlier tried to explain to the General as a micro camera through the rod. He then cut some electronic wire, splicing it to one end of the camera then to a gadget which plugged into the DVD thing. There was a lot of wire and Jack marvelled at how the guy had fit everything into his backpack, along with his regular gear. Sam and Daniel would've been impressed. He and Teal'c on the other hand would've been bored.
The Lieutenant then crawled into the hole with rod in hand. Jack watched the wire begin to trail in after him. A few moments later the wire stopped feeding, and a few moments after that Cooper came crawling out of the hole feet first. He was being cautious not to pull on the wire. Once exited he gave the General a thumbs up sign and switched on the device. The men crouched down and looked at the screen. Cooper handed out earpieces, but there wasn't much to be heard.
They all peered at the image of a dimly lit cavern, pretty much the same as the area that they themselves had set up under the house. There was a lone man sitting at a desk writing furiously on some paper. Cooper thumbed over something on the gadget and the camera angle seemed to tilt around the room. Jack noticed a cot, some odd markings on the wall, a small book case with books and papers strewn haphazardly in it. As the camera panned, Jack caught sight of figures sleeping on mats on the floor. He counted four, but it didn't mean that there wasn't others out of the camera's view. Before the camera again lit on the figure at the desk Jack was sure he saw a rack of automatic weapons near the exit of the cavern.
Jack tapped Cooper on the shoulder to get the other man's attention. With two fingers to his eyes then toward the screen he indicated he wanted Cooper to zoom in on the figure. With another move of his thumb, Cooper complied. Anderson looked over to the General who was fully engrossed with what was on the screen. A shiver ran down his spine, when by dim electric torch light, he was sure he saw the General's jaw tighten and his eyes wince ever so slightly. 'Did he just pale?' Anderson wondered silently.
Jack indicated that he wanted them to follow him back down the passage way. Once they'd arrived back at the chamber beneath the house, Jack directed his question to Lt. Cooper.
"Can we get Sat Com out of this position?" he whispered.
"Not down here Sir, but I probably could topside. Depends on Satellite location though. Wouldn't recommend it. I'm not sure what their capabilities may be. I didn't see any electronic equipment, but it could be in the house. They may detect our signal and if so, they could triangulate it and we'd have them over here in under ten minutes. They wouldn't know what we sent, just that we sent and could form a good guess as to from where," Cooper thought he answered as succinctly as possible.
"So that was a no," Jack remarked a little testily.
Jack ran a hand over his face. The last count was probably five still in the house, his target in the cavern with at least four others, and who knows how many in the tunnels in however many off shoots to the tunnel on the other side. Crap, crap, crap. Ok, what now? Jack didn't want to split up the team but he didn't have much choice. This would be so much easier if the Daedalus was in orbit. He could hope.
"Okay, this is what we're gonna do," Jack finally spoke in a soft tone. "Cooper, you and I stay here. You three get back to Bagram and…"
"Sir? I think I should stay," Anderson interjected.
Jack eyed him considering the suggestion. Nope, needed Anderson at Bagram. Okay, maybe they should keep one more back though.
"Negative, but Jenson, you stay and keep post here when Cooper and I head back down. Anderson, you take Hanson and head back to Bagram. Now listen, because this is important. Do exactly what I tell you. As soon as you're back at Bagram you're to get encrypted Sat Com to the Chief of Staff at the Pentagon. The Pentagon will patch you to wherever he's at once you drop my name. Tell him that possible incursion confirmed and that I'm requesting Sierra Gulf Charlie backup. No issues suspected at base. If he authorizes, you will then contact NORAD out of Cheyenne Mountain. You'll ask for General Landry. Understand?"
Anderson nodded.
"Good. When you get Landry you will relay to him the following: O'Neill, Hotel, Sierra, Delta Niner requests teams 3 and 7 re: possible incursion. USAF Daedalus requested if available. Give our coordinates here. That's it. Oh, wait….ask him if he has anyone AWOL or MIA from home, stress home. Been missing since, oh, let's say roughly the time that nasty flu was going around. Tell him, if he does, I found him. And ask him to tell Colonel Carter….No skip that."
What was he thinking? Tell her what? I love you? I miss you? Don't you dare even think about tagging along? Ya, sure Jack. Get a grip. She wouldn't, would she? Not in her condition. Well, Hank wouldn't let her anyways. That would put her right back in Jack's chain of command. Ok, don't have to worry about that. But at least she'll know where he is and what he's been up to. She'll at least know why he couldn't be there with her.
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At 03:30 Monday morning, Afghanistan time, Major Anderson and Captain Hanson had set off back to Bagram with the General's instruction. It wasn't until an hour into their journey that Hanson found he just couldn't keep contained any longer.
"What the hell do you think is going on?" he whispered to his CO.
"Not for me to say," Anderson answered back.
"What was with that guy though? Is that the cleric do you think? I thought those guys wore those things on their heads and had beards. And man, talk about cataracts. How the hell can he see to write anything?"
"Hanson, shut up," Anderson ground out quietly. "Are you trying to get us killed?"
"Sorry Sir."
The trek back to where they had stashed their humvee days earlier became quieter after that. Hanson still had a lot of questions. For example, what the hell was a daedalus? What he didn't know is that his Major had already surmised what it was.
The Major guessed that the Daedalus was the name of the space ship he had been aboard the first time he'd met General O'Neill. And Landry, well that was the other General he'd helped to rescue. That much he knew. And Colonel Carter. That was the very nice looking Colonel that Guierra had the gun on, wasn't it? Wonder if...na. Well, maybe. Na. But she had been pretty upset that they'd left O'Neill behind, almost demanding to go back for him once they were all back up on the ship. She had even ordered one of the guys on the bridge to send her back, then the detonation on the ground had happened. Her CO had been pretty calm at the time. Hadn't yelled at her or anything. And when the charges had gone off below she had looked like she'd been about to crack. And her CO had just looked at her like, well, sort of like, with sympathy. Na. Maybe. Wouldn't that be against regs though? Guess as long as she wasn't in his chain of command it'd be okay wouldn't it? Probably. Na, but then again.
Well, none of his business really. Changing the direction of his thoughts, he wondered what SGC stood for, or HSD for that matter. But apparently O'Neill was part of something from the HSD, and Landry the SGC. And it all made sense that it would be out of NORAD. Hanson was right. That cleric looked pretty unusual. O'Neill had said possible incursion confirmed. Was the guy an Alien? Oh wait. Something about AWOL or MIA personnel. Was the guy one of theirs and alien influenced? Okay, that made sense. But why didn't the General just let him and his team handle it? Coulda slipped the barrel of a sidearm through where the camera was and taken the guy out.
Ok, that was stupid for oh so many reasons. One, the tunnel system could've collapsed on them when the gun went off. The shooter would have to guess where the target was because you couldn't see to aim, and even if they didn't miss, and the tunnel didn't collapse, they'd have given away their location. And who knew how many insurgents were actually in the area. Glad he hadn't voiced any of this to the General. His hopes of a transfer woulda been kyboshed real quick. So let's see, the General wanted the spaceship. What was he planning? To beam the guy away? Wouldn't that sort of lend credence to his followers that he was a real prophet. Can't see that being a great plan. So what then?
Anderson had no idea. And if the guy was one of their's and aliens had done something to him, didn't they owe the guy something. A rescue or rehab attempt. Oh well. 'Mine is not to reason why,' he chirped in his head, 'as long as it gets me that transfer.'
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Jack had left Jenson on watch while he and Cooper began back down the tunnel. Let's see, Jack thought, take the guys what? Two and half, three hours back to Bagram. Get in touch with Hank, the marine and medical teams could be beamed up to the Daedalus, then back down right here. They should be ready to finish this in oh, say four to five hours. In the meantime, Cooper and he would just keep watch. So, the question was, how to handle this without turning Yousef into a martyr or a miracle prophet? He was pretty sure that's who it was, not positive though. Airman Al Yousef, at least Jack thought that was his name. If it was the same guy, he'd first started his stint at the SGC just before Jack was transferred out. He had been assigned to Gateroom security detail the last Jack remembered. So how was it he was now a Prior? What the hell had come through that gate? They owed it to Yousef, if it was him, to at least try and free him of this. Poor SOB.
For the next hour he and Cooper sat and watched the screen. Nothing was happening. Yousef was still furiously writing, occasionally getting up to put a full piece of paper in the book case, then returned to his desk. The scene was monotonous and Jack began to feel his eyes close and his head begin to droop. He snapped it back up. Cooper had seen and just gave the General a shrug and a smile. Jack shook his head and gave a slight grin. Rubbing his hand down his face he took a deep breath and slowly blew it out before returning his gaze to the screen.
Jack's eyes flew open in shock and he pointed at the screen to bring Cooper's attention back to it. Yousef was staring back at them, up close and personal.
"Let's get the hell out of here, now," Jack whispered. They'd been made and it wouldn't be long before insurgents filled this tunnel. They wouldn't have a chance. Jack and Cooper got up quickly from their sitting positions and began to run back down the tunnel
Things started to happen way too fast for Jack. Coming into the chamber under the house at a full run, he saw that Jenson was already firing up the stairwell. Dirt and rock was showering down upon the three men. They were sitting ducks.
"Follow me," Jack barked, wheeling down another passage.
If they could hold them off just long enough to rip the boards off the end, maybe, just maybe they could make it out of the tunnels and find somewhere to hide. From behind Jack heard Jenson let out a yelp and knew he was gone. Cooper's was right beside him, taking shots with his sidearm down the darkened corridor behind them. Jack stopped, turned and pointed his P-90 down the tunnel. Jack felt the burn in his shoulder and knew he'd been hit. Like a rock he went down, still conscious. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He knew how these fanatics treated their prisoners. He'd spent time as in an Iraq prison. These nuts would probably be worse. Crap.
He felt Cooper's hands on him, trying to get him up. And then the Lieutenant stopped. Jack moved his head to see Cooper raising his hands.
"On your knees," Jack heard one of the insurgents yell at Cooper, the accent thick.
Cooper complied, keeping his hands in the air. Jack saw from the corner of his eye Cooper's gun on the ground. If he just stayed still, maybe they would think he was already dead. He could get the gun and… Jack was pulled up by his wounded shoulder. He couldn't keep the yell from escaping. Damn that hurt. He too found himself forced to his knees.
A light was shone into their eyes, blinding both Jack and Cooper momentarily. Through the halo of the light Jack could finally make out five figures, all speaking in a language Jack did not know, but guessed was native to these mountains. Very likely Farsi. One pulled out a machete looking knife and began to approach the two Americans kneeling on the dirt floor. Jack made to move but was kicked in the head by the knife wielder. Jack brought himsefl back up to a kneeling position and closed his eyes in grief. Cooper was staring up at him, but his body had fallen the other way.
Jack thought for sure that he was next. His only thoughts were that he would never see her again. He'd never meet his child. To his surprise and bitter sweet relief, Yousef stepped forward, his milky eyes staring at him.
"Nice to see you again General," Yousef spoke, then turning his attention to his followers he said, "Bring him."
Two thugs hauled General O'Neill to his feet none too gently. His shoulder felt like a hot poker had been jammed into it. Realistically he knew it was probably just a flesh wound. Would explain why it hurt so bad. He thought fleetingly of trying to make a break, but he was outnumbered and injured. Wouldn't get too far. No, better to play the wait and see what happens next game. Marines should be here soon. Provided Anderson got a message out, and the Daedalus was still in orbit. Maybe he'd get that chance to meet his kid after all. He'd been such a jerk on the phone. Monosyllabic imbecile. That's what he was leaving her with. No, he wasn't done yet. Couldn't start thinking that way. He still had a chance.
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Sgt Harriman was on night watch when the call came in, re-routed from upstairs. It was close to 22:00 Sunday night. No, the General was not available Harriman informed the Major. No he could not call him at home and disturb him. What was this about? Anderson was at a loss as to what to do. He'd called the Pentagon, was patched through to the Chief of Staff, at home no less. The Major had given O'Neill's instructions to the letter. Authorization was given to contact NORAD and the SGC, whatever the hell that was. He'd been put on hold and even bounced around a bit before landing with this Harriman.
"Look, Sergeant, I'm in Afghanistan. With General O'Neill. I'm to get a message stat to General Landry. Now find him for me!" Anderson barked, loosing his patience.
"What's the message," Harriman asked becoming concerned. He had to make sure this was for real though before calling the General at home. It wasn't beyond one of the lab techies to be pulling a prank on him.
'What the hell,' Anderson thought to himself. 'I got two men back there and a Major General. What's the worst that could happen? Get court martialled that's what. Fine. So be it.' Anderson relayed to Harriman what O'Neill had told him.
"Oh!" Harriman exclaimed. It was for real. What was General O'Neill doing in...Oh never mind. "Hold the line Major, I'll call him at home and conference the call."
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"Listen up people," General Landry spoke to the full briefing room. "I've received an urgent message from General O'Neill. He is on a recon mission in Afghanistan."
Landry hesitated as Colonel Carter walked into the briefing room. He had debated on whether or not to include her in the briefing and had decided against it. She'd had enough upset over the last few days. It appeared though that someone had alerted her and here she was. Sam took a standing position behind Daniel and Teal'c. General Landry looked down at his notes briefly. He should've included her. He continued with the briefing.
"There is a possible, say again, possible Ori incursion in that area. I've spoken to a man on the ground there under General O'Neill's direct command. They need our backup. SG3 and 7 were requested along with the Daedalus. As you know, SG3 is out of commission and the Daedalus is not in orbit. Details are sketchy. I'm sending SG1 and 7 to meet up with the contact, a Major Anderson, at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan."
"Sir?" Colonel Carter directed at the General, "Are we taking the F-302s?"
"No Colonel," Landry tried not to choke on his response. "They're taking the F-302s. You're sitting this one out. For obvious reasons."
"But Sir," Sam protested.
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TBC.
Author's Request: When you're finished reading this chapter, please click on my name to visit my profile. Once there, if you select my home page, you will be brought to youtube where you can view the video "Echo" created by Hope Leslie Hermnharry especially for this chapters 8 & 9 of this story.
DISCLAIMER: "Stargate SG-1," "Stargate Atlantis," and its characters are the property of MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Film Corp., Showtime/Viacom and USA Networks, Inc. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations and story are the property of the author(s), and may not be republished or archived elsewhere without the author's permission.